


For many crowns of violets and roses

by Offbrand_Valk



Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms, Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, S.S. Endurance Week 2018, Ship Week, fic collecion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-04 19:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Offbrand_Valk/pseuds/Offbrand_Valk
Summary: A collection of my SFW S.S. Endurance fics (for the time being mostly fics from S.S. Endurance week 2018)





	1. Day 1 - Inappropriate flirting

**Author's Note:**

> Readers of my other works will know how terrible i am at following prompts, but I did try my best

"Hey Sam, how about we take a detour and get rid of some _frustrations_?" Lara said as she ran her hand down my back, and gestured down a side alley.

"No Lara, I don't want to fuck in a dirty alleyway at 11:30 at night. I don't care how horny you are, if you wanted to spend the night in bed you should have said so before we left." I snapped a lot harder than I meant to.

I knew Lara had a sexual appetite and a half (student housing wasn't known for it's thick walls), and it was something I had been gleefully prepared to deal with when we started dating a few weeks ago.

And as a matter of fact, I had more than fulfilled my girlfriendly duties that morning, that afternoon after a class, while we were getting dressed to go out, and quietly in the bathroom of the club we just left. So I did feel justified in drawing a line in the sand... and also I might have been ever so slightly fucked out.

"I'm sorry Sam, I guess I'm sort of in a mood tonight." Lara said, sounding more disappointed in herself than anything else.

 

I figured that would have been it for the night, give or take a quickie before bed. Even for a British woman, Lara was embarrassingly good at keeping her feelings in check.

So i didn't really know how to respond when 20 minutes later Lara started getting handsy again.

"Laaaaaaaraaaa" I mock-whined as her hand made its way beneath my shirt in the middle of the dance floor. "Saaaaaaaam" She moaned into my neck and tried to shove her tongue down my throat.

I gently but insistently pushed her off me. "Seriously Lara what's with you? I know you're a horny drunk, but you've been like this all week!"

Lara froze "It's nothing." She said, and her voice cracked. "It's stupid." She corrected and took off towards the bathroom.

 

Lucky for me, navigating crowds had always been one of the things I had on Lara, so she barely even got off the dancefloor before I grabbed her shoulder and started mentally preparing myself to be thrown on my back by Lara's instincts.

Instead she just stopped where she stood, and very slowly turned around to face me with tears in her eyes. My heart sank, I had no idea what was going through her head but I wanted it to stop. "Lara, please, just talk to me."

She drew a long shaky breath. "Can we, can we take this somewhere else? Please?" I hugged her, because the hell else was I supposed to do in that situation?

 

One argument with the coat check, and a very uncomfortable taxi ride later, and we were safely back home in our flat with a mug of tea each. Now all we needed to do was find a way to broach the subject of Lara's feelings.

This was gonna be a long night.

"It's stupid." Lara said and took a sip from her already empty mug. "Well I'm stupid too, so whatever it is, it'll fit right in."

She made a token effort to giggle at my joke, then clutched her mug harder. "Last week I was channel surfing while you were in class, and I found this movie about a lesbian couple, but at the end they broke up because one of the girls said she had only been experimenting and wanted to marry a boy. I know its stupid but I thought: what if I'm like that? What if this is all just some twisted experiment to me and I'm toying with your feelings?"

A good girlfriend would have been able to keep the conversation around Lara's feelings and helping her push away her fears, unfortunately the connection between my mouth and my brain had a tendency to be kinda crap when I needed it most. "So how does that translate to you being perpetually horny?" I wanted to slam my head through the table hard enough to fracture my skull.

"I... I wanted to show you affection while I still could." Lara hid her face in her hands from embarrassment and boy was I tempted to do the same.

 

"Lara, dearest sweetest Lara, do you really see yourself waking up one morning and casually falling out of love with me? Before you answer, let me grab those 2 euro pants you bought in Barcelona 8 years ago, wore once and to this day refuse to let me throw out." I was half tempted to make good of my promise, but my point had been made.

"No of course not." Lara sounded downright offended.

"Then tell me sweetie, what is it really that has got you worried?" I reached out and brushed a stray hair behind her ear.

"I don't know Sam, it's all just new and strange and I don't know what any of it means." Lara sort of deflated into the couch.

"Me too, this is by far my most grown up relationship." Swing and a miss for lightening the mood, good job Nishimura.

"It's not just that Sam. It's also the-" She hesitated and lowered her voice, as if saying the word would physically harm her. "the gay thing."

 

Now it was my turn to deflate, because yeah, there was that... So long as you just went with the flow, and tried not to think too hard about it, it was easy. The problems came when you wanted to put a name to it and think of the implications.

I had been watching my social media presence like a hawk, and carefully selecting every word I spoke to my parents. All too aware that this could be the straw that broke the camel's back and made them finally disown me.

I also knew Lara had been going through every interaction she'd ever had with Roth to try and find out how he would have felt about us. He might have veered a bit on the conservative side, but he hadn't ever expressed any hateful views towards any minority other than maybe Arsenal fans when he was buzzed, and even if he would have disapproved would that change anything?

That was just scratching the surface. There was the fact that my grandma would likely refuse to come to my wedding, that I could be executed in several countries simply for existing, and that I now had to think of myself as Sam Nishimura: a pizza addicted, Japanese, bisexual? lesbian? media student with a love/hate relationship to her credit card. Somehow that last one was the hardest.

 

So after a long time mulling it over in my head, I said the only thing I knew for sure. "We'll figure it out Lara. We've got each other so I know we'll be okay. There's nothing we can't do together."

Lara smiled at me, and I smiled back at her Then we kissed and the world felt just a little bit happier.

 

"Though for the record sweetie there are other ways you can show affection than sex."

"Such as?"

"Fucking get snapchat already Lara it's 2018."


	2. Day 2 - Fixing canon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new Tomb Raider movie was pretty good save for one glaring oversight.
> 
> I tried to catch the mood and feel of the movie with this, and imagined how Sam might fit into that canon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, uhm, I didn't have time to proof read this sorry, the time got a bit away from me tonight. I might come back sometime next week and fix the most glaring mistakes

Lara's phone aggressively chimed and if there ever was a time you wanted to talk to telemarketers, this was certainly not it.

She denied the call, and reloaded her guns, then kept on walking.

And her phone rang again, and was summarily turned off.

The third time it rang Lara just gave up and accepted the call. "Look now is really not-"

"Whatever you do, do not go through that door." A woman on the other end of the phone interrupted her, just as Lara pushed open said door and was met by a hail of gunfire.

 

Lara dove for cover just a split-second too, and felt the painful sting of a bullet grazing her thigh. "You couldn't have said that 20 seconds ago." Lara groaned into her headset.

"I could if you hadn't hung up on me twice." The voice in her ear fired back.

Taking a moment to roll her eyes at the sky, Lara peeked around the corner, and had to quickly pull her head back as another volley tore the doorframe to shreds.

"Odds are there's 3 of them, one has a glass eye in 2018, another wears only greasy Slayer t-shirt, and the last looks and acts like someone named Ivan." The voice in her ear spoke as Lara took stock of the situation.

"Dealt with grease stains in the driveway, but he also wasn't packing an automatic, how do you know this?" Lara was a little surprised at how easily she managed to keep up the conversation in the middle of a firefight.

"Because, and you better wear a psychic condom cause I'm about to blow your mind, there are other ways to get information than storming in guns blazing."

 

Lara didn't have time to reply as a flash grenade rolled next to her.

She kicked it away, but not quite fast enough not to catch the tail-end of the blast and go momentarily blind.

With no better option on hand, she shot wildly in the direction of the door until her guns went _click_.

When the dust settled and her ears stopped ringing, she found who she presumed to be Glass-Eye lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and Ivan nowhere in sight.

The thought had barely finished forming in her head before _something_ lounged at her.

Lara hadn't been sure what the woman on the phone had meant by her description of the third henchman, but now that she was desperately losing a wrestling match with him, Ivan seemed like a perfect description for the grunting 2,10 mountain of muscles and fat trying to choke the life out of her.

 

**_Bang!_ **

"Ivan" collapsed lifelessly on top of Lara as a bullet penetrated his skull.

Lara quickly pushed the corpse off her and got to her feet, to assess whether "Ivan's" killer was a friend or a foe. In front of her stood a woman looking about as old as herself, in a well worn leather jacket, and clutching a pistol maybe a little too tight.

When she made no move to attack her, Lara decided she was probably a friend and did the polite thing. "Thanks, you're a life saver, I'm Lara by the way."

Her rescuer just kept staring at the corpse, then suddenly exclaimed. "I'm gonna be sick." Before puking all over Lara's arm.

 

"Ugh, sorry not really the heroic introduction I was planning on. I'm Sam, we spoke on the phone." She said and awkwardly shook the very edge of Lara's fingers.

In return Lara sent her a pitying smile. "it's never pleasant but the first time is the worst."

Sam scratched her shoulder in embarrassment. "So would now be a bad time to say that he wasn't actually my first kill, and that the dodgy chicken tikka that was my breakfast just didn't agree with me running?"

"Well it does explain why my jacket now smells like stale milk and turmeric." Lara said and gestured meaningfully to her arm, as she tried wiggling out of it without ruining more of her clothes.

"Here let me help." Sam said rushing to her side, and wow did she have soft hands was the first thing Lara noticed.

 

The jacket had never really been that nice in the first place, so she decided to just dump it by what remained of the door, as she cautiously entered the dilapidated farmhouse. Sam went after her not a moment later.

"So what's a nice girl like you, doing in a nasty place like this." Lara said as she pulled out her flashlight, and began searching for any proof that Trinity had been using the place for storage.

"Same as you sweetie, looking for dirt on a certain international conspiracy with a controversial interpretation of Christian scriptures." It was what Lara had suspected, still it was nice knowing she wasn't completely alone in her fight against Trinity.

"How did you find out about me?" Lara asked as she opened an old ledger hidden beneath a barrel, half the pages immediately turned to dust.

"Buzzfeed ran an, I hesitate to say, article about you. At first I figured you were going to be the fresh new face of the entire organization, with you owning about 60% of legal assets and all that." As she spoke Sam tore out the drawers from the large cabinet opposite where Lara was working, making a disgruntled noise each time one turned out to be empty.

"What changed your mind?" Lara said and turned around to look at her.

"A weeks' worth of detective work, please don't ask me how many hours of footage I have of you." Sam turned around in turn to meet her gaze, and seemed to feel at least a little guilty. Lara didn't really hold it against her, had the roles been reversed she would have done the same.

"What about how many of them are of me in the shower, will you tell me that?" The word's left Lara's mouth faster than she could even realize their implication. Something about Sam just made her want to joke and flirt.

"Maybe, but not for as long as you're armed." Sam grinned from ear to ear, making it clear Lara's advances were more than welcome.

"Well if you're ever in the mood for a tour of Croft manor's shower facilities, I'd be more than happy to be your guide." Maybe she was being a little forward, so sue her, when you got shot at on a near weekly basis, you had better things to do than not kissing on the first date.

Sam made a series of loud, undignified grunt followed by a low chuckle. "You did not just say that." She stammered out between fits of giggles.

Never one to back down easy, Lara moved closer to Sam as she said. "And what if I just did?" She was thoroughly enjoying the 5 cm she had on Sam.

"Then I might just take you up on the offer, but we need to work on your flirting." Sam didn't give her time to formulate a proper response, as soon as she saw the smile spread across Lara's face, she moved in for the kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you prefer, you can also reach me on [tumblr](https://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com/) though right now i gotta go to sleep, cause It's 2 hours past midnight, and also I have a hardware and robotics class in the morning


	3. Day 3 - Wooing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So funny story, I finished writing this very late last night and just sort of... forgot to post it
> 
> Anyways day 4 should be up in a couple of hours depending on if I can stop getting distracted

Normally I hated having to pull out daddy's credit card, but when your best friend goes through hell and high waters to save you from a murderous island cult like something out of an 80's b-movie, it deserves a proper get-well gift.

And a proper gift she was going to get, even if I had to upend every single candy store in the greater Tokyo area to find some fucking Jaffa cakes.

At least all that time spend on shopping sprees finally paid off when I had to carry the leaning tower of sweets up a bazillion flights of stairs to the recovery ward.

 

"Sam." I swear I'm not exaggerating when I say Lara's eyes twinkled when she saw me

"Hey sweetie, how's your... everything?" I said, because what else could I really say that even began to capture the vastness of it all?

"I've been better." She hesitantly admitted, and reached a hand out towards me. I nearly dropped my presents to take it.

"But its over now Lara, you can rest." We both moved in closer for a hug without either of us caring that we were squishing a pack of expensive chocolate cookies between us.

 

I knew some part of Lara was still stuck on that island, and I was beginning to worry how much of it would ever come back.

Sure it had only been a few days, since she was released from ICU, so I couldn't expect miracles while she still had tubes going into just about every orifice and vein.

What really worried me was that I could tell Lara was putting on a brave face. That meant she thought she could handle it, and even if she could, she really shouldn't have to on her own.

"Shh, Sam it's okay, I'm right here." I hadn't even realized I was crying, all I could think about was that I wanted to climb into bed with her, hold on tight, and never let go.

 

 We stayed like that until a nurse came to check up on Lara and glared us apart.

Instead I sat next to her for the rest of the night and snacked on chocolates myself, since the nurse gave me a look like she wanted to use my corpse for presentation purposes when I tried giving one to Lara.

At some point Lara started getting drowsy, so I pulled out my phone to stop myself keeping her awake with all the nonsense going through my head.

Lara made a couple of attempts to sleep, but clearly got nowhere while I was in the room. Which was unfortunate considering there was no way in hell I was leaving, until I was dragged kicking and screaming.

"Read me a bed time story?" She asked jokingly, and it wasn't like I had anything better to do with my time.

"Your wish is my command." I said with my stupidest grin yet, then opened wikipedia and pressed random article. "Tonight I'm going to tell you a story called: United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana 2010" What? The purpose was for her to fall asleep right?

 

Ever the fool, I was the one to fall asleep, and drool all over Lara's blankets.

"Little bird, it's time to leave, the nurse doesn't look like she want's to wait." Jonah's gentle, deep voice woke me up, and one glance at murder-nurse told me now was not the time to ask for 5 more minutes.

Me and Lara managed a single long smile at each other before the door was slammed in my face, and I had to return to my hotel room.

I went out for food with Jonah and Reyes, but we didn't really talk, I was too busy thinking about what Lara was doing. When I came back home, it was still the only thing on my mind.

How the hell was it possible that you slept better in a wobbly hospital chair than a five star hotel?

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning I went into Tokyo city armed with 5 hours of the worst sleep, and an extra large cup of coffee, to buy a book of fairy tales. Only realizing as I was turning down the hallway to Lara's room that most of the brother's Grimm, and HC Andersen were in the public domain so I could have just found them on my phone.

When I arrived, Lara was still half-asleep from medication, so I did the first thing that came to mind, and kissed her forehead. The smile she sent could melt a glacier.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." I said, unable to stop the smile spreading across my lips.

"Good morning Cinderella." Lara sounded every bit as sleepy as I felt.

"Why Cinderella?" It seemed like such a random choice, which wasn't exactly something Lara was known for.

"Because: have you seen the amount of drugs I'm on at the moment? It's a wonder you don't look like a giant Jaffa cake to me." Now that Lara mentioned it, she had been giving me some very hungry looks these last few days.

"Well good thing I brought some bedtime stories then, so you can pick a proper princess for me to be." We smiled at each other for a long time, and it was like something changed within me, like a piece of the puzzle suddenly fell into place.

I couldn't describe what I was feeling at the time, I just knew Lara was the most important thing in my life, and that whatever else happened, I never wanted to part ways with her.

 

We spent the day working our way through Grimm's fairy tales.

Progress was slow as we stopped constantly to discuss whatever thoughts came to us in the moment. One moment Lara was rambling on about the historical evolution of "the fisherman and his wife". What felt like the very next moment, I was talking through how you could shoot the climax of "the town musicians of Bremen" to keep it interesting for the modern audiences.

Somewhere along the way we fell asleep again, and again Jonah came to my rescue just in time to save me from the wrath of murder-nurse.

 

"So, you and Lara." Jonah asked as we left the hospital, there was something in his voice I couldn't quite place.

"What about us?" He was probably just trying to make small talk right?

"I just thought you should know that me and Joslin both support you." That was a weird thing to say right? It almost sounded like... oh!

"Oh no me and Lara, we aren't, I, we, not gay."

Not my most coherent moment, but in my defense, that was kind of a ludicrous idea right?

That me and Lara would be?

To be fair she was really cute, and I had kinda always considered her as my "if I had to pick a girl."

And if I thought about it for a moment, I could definitely see myself growing old with Lara and 15 cats.

And maybe just maybe, my fascination with her boobs wasn't quite as platonic as I thought.

 

"Sam, you okay there? you sort of spaced out on me." Jonah said with a worried look, as he waved a hand in front of my face.

"I... Might... Gay..." Okay, still hadn't remembered how to speakest the mouth words.

Jonah just laughed his big brother laugh, and clapped my shoulder. "Happy to hear it Sam."

His actions barely registered, cause holy shit I was in love with my bestie. "I'm sorry Jonah, I need to go have a panic attack."

 

After spending a good hour zoning out to animal planet, I finally felt like I was in a mental headspace to start planning how I was gonna woo the lofty lady Croft.

Well I say _plan_ , truth be told that was maybe a bit generous, considering what I ended up going for.

You see, for one I am, and always has been absolutely terrible at keeping secrets from Lara. Lara was also usually the one I went to whenever I had a new crush, so not only did she already know all my tricks, I was without my partner in crime.

Most importantly though we both just spent a month nearly dying over and over again, on an island far from civilization. If there ever was a sign to skip overthinking and just go for it, this was definitely it.

 

* * *

 

 

There's something special, and not entirely pleasant about bringing flowers to the recovery ward of a hospital. People look at you in a thousand different ways, everyone making up their own little story about why you're there and who that rose is for.

I should have bought the huge bouquet, no matter how much Lara would have hated it, it would atleast have given me something to hide behind other than my flash card.

Yeah I made a flash card for my declaration of love, what are you gonna do about it? Tell the cops?

 

"Sam!" Lara said with a smile as soon as I came in.

I was in love with a goddess, no human woman could possibly look that pretty covered in bruises, bandages, and a hospital gown.

"Lara, I..." See this was why I prepared a flashcard.

Shit what did it say?

 

_1) give her the flower(s)_

Right, I could do that, easy. I just had to walk over to the bed, and gently hand her the flower as I thought of what to say next. "Not like a robot you weirdo!" I screamed in my own head, as I marched over with my hands down my side and thrust the rose in Lara's face.

2) Tell her how much she means to you

"Lara, I, You, Very important." Okay, seems not being able to talk was just something I was gonna have to get used to.

"Sam what's going on?" Oh god Lara had that look on her face again. That look that said she couldn't tell if she should be worried or angry with me. Quick what was next step?

3) Tell her how you feel

"Lara, I love you so much, I can't even begin to describe. I just... You're my world Lara, and I don't know what I would ever do without you, and it's okay if you don't feel the same I just... I'm messing this up so badly I'm so sorry." Lara looked like a human question mark and I was about ready to cry. Flashcard save me from this hell of my own making!

4) Kiss her you fool

Can do!

The kiss was awkward in that romcom sort of way. Our faces were mashed together, my hands were in her hair, and Lara was making "this is weird but I love it" noises into my mouth.

 

We both grinned like idiots when we broke the kiss.

"So." I said as I collapsed back into my chair.

"So..." Lara added.

"That was nice."

"Very nice."

"Can I ask you a question sweetie?"

"Anything."

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go to https://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com/ if you wanna remind me in the future, that it's very hard for people to read your fics if you don't actually post them


	4. Day 4 - Soulmates

As far as Sam was concerned, she had hit the jackpot when it came to soulmarks. "I need your shirt, my friend is bleeding out!" Was written in dainty chicken scratch around her wrist.

Sam was convinced her soulmate would be some kind of humanitarian, probably a doctor who helped rescue children from warzones or something. Sam would meet them in the middle of a firefight and help save the life of their best friend and it would all be super romantic and exciting.

It was because of this completely reasonable extrapolation that Sam even decide to become a media student in the first place. She was going to travel the world with her soulmate, and make documentaries of their adventures as they made the world a better place.

With that in mind, you can understand why Sam found it terribly anticlimactic when she met her soulmate outside a nightclub in London and learned she was an archaeologist with a love for dusty old tomes.

 

Lara on the other hand had always had a bit of an ambivalent relationship to her soulmark. She couldn't really change it, and at least in theory she liked the idea that somewhere out there, there was a person who fit together perfectly with her.

It was just that. Well you try going your whole life with "The hell kinda pickup line is that? Wait... OH MY FUCK YOU'RE MY SOULMATE!" in huge gaudy letters stretching from half way down your hand all the way to you shoulder blade, and see how you like it.

As she grew older, Lara felt like she never really became the person her soulmark called for. She liked to flirt, and she didn't mind relationships, but pickup lines was her biggest turn off, especially the ironically bad ones.

All in all, Lara didn't really think much of her soulmark, if she met her soulmate it was a nice bonus, if she didn't she wasn't going to cry any tears about it.

 

The Friday had been noteworthy only in how completely ordinary it was. Lara had gone out for drinks with Jonah and a few of his friend. Unfortunately, those friends included Alex, who on the best days needed to take a hint, and on the worst was the bane of her existence.

That night he had both feet planted firmly in, "I don't mind him existing, I just wish he would do it on a different continent" territory. He had gotten it in his head, that what he needed to do to get in her pants was impress her with party tricks, like she was a bored toddler on a train.

And dear god did he try. Coins in beer bottles, teabag rockets, pencil balancing, even a couple of honest to god card tricks. Lara was not impressed and that only served to encourage him further.

The gang walked past a spiked fence, and before anyone could stop him, Alex was climbing it. All the while talking about a trick he saw on youtube about walking on the tips, which sounded risky when you weren't 2 shots from blackout drunk.

Jonah tried to tell Alex not to believe everything he saw on the internet but it was too late. For just a split second his trick seemed like it might work, then he lost his balance and next thing anyone knew there was blood everywhere.

 

For Sam, going out had originally been about breaking a 4 month dry spell. Once she got a feel for the night's choices, she decided that would have to spend another week in the company of her vibrator. Really the only thing keeping her from heading straight home, was the hope that there were still some shawarma places open.

When she heard mixed cries of "Alex get down from there", and "you're gonna hurt yourself." followed by loud screams of panic and "holy shit." She didn't pay it much mind. She wasn't at her soberest, and once you've seen one hipster's faceplant after trying to show his parkour "skills", you'd seen them all.

So when a tall brunette with the face of a wood nymph, and the body of Ryan Gosling came up next to her, wearing nothing but a sports bra on her upper body, Sam figured she was trying to get lucky.

"I need your shirt, my friend is bleeding out." The warrior wood nymph said with a calm yet insistent voice.

Sam crinkled her brow yet couldn't stop herself from laughing the smallest bit. "The hell kind of pickup line is that?" She felt a light itching around her wrist. "Wait..." Followed by a soft blue light as her soulmark disappeared from her skin. "OH MY FUCK YOU'RE MY SOULMATE!"

"Yes that's nice-" The brunette's speech was interrupted when a larger and more intense flash of blue ran up her arm and erased what Sam had first thought to be a tribal tattoo of some sort. "Can we please get back to saving my friend's life?" The brunette continued unperturbed in her very sexy British accent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I couldn't figure out how to end this, and after an hour just staring at the ending I decided it was good enough for government work
> 
> Anyways i'm open to suggestions, either here or on [tumblr](https://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com/)


	5. Day 5 - Timetravel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now actually proof read cause I've had some sleep!

This was for the best, I just had to keep telling myself that. No more near-death experiences, or infected wounds, or needing to carry a feverish Lara 12 kilometers to reach enough civilization that you could call for help.

All I had to do was sit in this café and enjoy my coffee without talking to the gorgeous brunette reading a textbook across the streets. It shouldn't be hard.

It was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life, and when she finally left after what felt like a millennium, my soul felt like it was torn out of my body.

 

When the shock wore off, I was sitting on the couch in an apartment I had never seen before, yet remembered having lived in for the last 4 years.

It was a nice apartment, not as spacious, as Croft Manor, and I did sort of miss the bi pride flag I convinced Lara to hang in the bed room, but I guess I could see myself living here.

To my surprise my fridge was pretty much full, meaning that in this timeline I either had a guardian angel or finally learned to take care of myself, considering groceries used to be firmly Lara's responsibility.

My memory was still "returning", and my head was still reeling. All of which was pretty understandable, considering I had just invariably fucked up the timestream.

 

I collapsed into my couch and turned on the tv to the first the best gossip channel I could find.

"Last night Britain's most controversial celebrity, was seen attending the opening of the new wing of London's museum of natural history, along with her boy of the hour Zayn Malik." I beg your pardon?

"When a paparazzi harassed the couple, the reality star supposedly snapped and assaulted the paparazzi. Lara is now 3 months out of rehab, but people at the scene likened her behavior to past cocaine fueled benders." I BEG YOUR FUCKING PARDON?

Okay, relax Sam, remember journalism 101, don't get your facts from TMZ.

 

Getting used to this new timeline took some time.

For one since I hadn't been horribly traumatized by a trip to Yamatai, and subsequently decided to travel the world with my girlfriend I had actually finished UCL. Which in turn meant that I spent most of my working hours assisting (getting coffee for) directors on semi popular medical dramas, and midsummer murders ripoffs. I didn't hate it, but it was very much a change from being the director of an award-winning documentary.

Also, the not getting shot at part, that was weird. By which I mean it was weird not getting shot at but also it was weird thinking it was weird not getting shot at.

Sure I had friends in this timeline, and they all seemed like perfectly nice people if you liked nearly identical hipster girls with slightly iffy opinions about the rights of transwomen. Most of them did think it was weird how I "suddenly" had an in depth knowledge of Mayan architecture, and knew enough about MMA to know that the fratbro the director wanted to play the lead definitely wasn't the black belt he claimed to be.

Other than that though, life was good.

So long as you didn't miss being able to go on long hikes since you no longer lived in a manor in the country side.

Or missed coming home to fresh tea and biscuits, since there was no longer anyone to make it for you.

Or missed getting impromptu history lectures at random hours of the day, because your girlfriend stumbled upon something really cool and wanted someone to know.

Or missed Lara... Life was good so long as you didn't miss Lara.

 

So maybe I grew a tiny bit obsessed with Lara's life, it wasn't like I started rummaging through her trash or something, I just followed a bunch of fan accounts on twitter and stuff. I had pretty much spent my entire adult life attached to her by the hip, I was allowed to gradually wean myself off of her life.

"My" friends teased me none stop about my sudden celebrity crush on Britain's reigning queen of scandals ("Countess, Irene, she should be the reigning countess of scandals, since that's her noble title.") which maybe wasn't entirely undeserved.

It's just that well, beneath all the drugs, rotating door love life, and extravagant parties, there was still my Lara. Sure she was the star of her own reality show, but she still kept it educational and respectful to the cultures she was visiting.

The media liked to frame it as if she was just some party girl filming her sabbatical, and yeah a not insignificant part of her viewership was primarily turning in for the boob shots. All of which ignored both the fact that she had a PhD from Cambridge, and had once nearly torn the head off a crewman who took a "souvenir" from an aboriginal burial place (before she returned the souvenir along with a hefty sum of apology money).

I guess I was really trying to find out if my plan had worked, and I really had made Lara's life better by not getting her involved with Trinity and god knows what else. The problem was that well... The jury was still out, and the more I learned the further out it came.

 

Somehow I ended up being brought on as the editor of a couple of episodes of one of Lara's shows. The usual editor had gone down with the flu a little too close to deadline to just wait it out, and a friend of a friend had told the producer that I was exactly the kind of technically experienced history buff they were looking for.

Against my better judgement I went for it, what was the harm I figured? The odds of me actually running into Lara was abysmal, and even if we did, it's not like she would recognize me or anything. Plus since it was last minute the pay was fucking amazing.

I showed up to work, got a briefing about the target audience and what not, then sat down to work in a decently comfortable office with an enormous mug of coffee. No muss, no fuss, just a very long weekend in the company of a gazillion hours of footage, and with 0 chance of meeting my ex.

Because I had apparently forgotten the things I had incessantly lectured my friends about.

 

It was around 7 on a Friday night, and I was feeling super in the zone with my work, when an all too familiar voice spoke to me and I nearly burst into tears. "I'm guessing you're Sam right?"

For some reason, the first thing I thought of upon seeing Lara was that yep, the tabloids were right, as someone with a lot of experience with Lara boobs I could confirm, she had definitely gotten a boobjob.

The next thing I thought of was _shit what do I do_? Not only was this not part of the plan, this was exactly the opposite of the plan.

I just needed to relax, play it cool and not be remarkable in any ways shape or form. Just another random stranger on the long road called life.

"Yeah, that's me, Sam Nishimura, your emergency editor." What I needed to not do was smile and giggle adorkably at her while twirling my hair seductively.

"Cute, You mind if we go through your work together real quick?" Sappho help me she was using her bossy voice.

 

It quickly became apparent that the "don't stand out" plan had failed right off the bat.

I knew exactly how Lara liked her shots to fit together, and how best to frame her when she was going 100 miles an hour explaining something complicated. Without meaning to sound arrogant, I was also a lot better at my craft than the jackoffs her producer normally hired.

Where most of the time, Lara had to beat her editors over the head with a climbing axe until they remembered to add her interview with the village elder. Now she was having to begrudgingly admit that we probably needed to add a few more shots of her relaxing in a hot spring, and I could tell she was over the moon about this change of pace.

Even worse was the fact that I couldn't quite keep my curiosity in check. It started out with some mild small talk, you know "the person who decided liquid smoke in drinks needed to be a thing, should be hung from the ramparts and used as target practice for the royal guard." and stuff like that.

Then I started digging, I couldn't help it I was curious about how she had lived her life without me, even if I could tell it was starting to get on her nerves.

 

I didn't stop there, oh no of course I didn't, I just had to ask about some inconsistencies I found in the raw footage. Like how 2 shots that were supposed to be at the foot and the top of a hill on the same day, had her wearing slightly different tank tops.

Before she was annoyed, now she was getting downright suspicious of me, interrogating me about my past and my family and a bunch of other stuff that seemed completely random.

Then she said it. "How long have you been working for Trinity?" And I freaked, because that was the one thing that was not supposed to happen.

Without me, no Yamatai. Without Yamatai, no hearing about Trinity. Without hearing about Trinity, no dangerous adventures. Without dangerous adventures, safe Lara. That was the plan!

When I wasn't paying attention, Lara pulled out a gun, and my instincts took over. I swept at her leg and grabbed for her wrist. We both fell to the floor and wrestled for the gun.

**Bang!**

 

I shot straight up out of bed, bathed in cold sweat. Before I even had time to register where I was, Lara's strong, gentle arms were around me and her soothing voice in my ear. "Shh, Sam, it was just a bad dream, It's over now, I won't let anything hurt you."

I smiled at her as a tear ran down my cheek, and the early morning sun was framing us both in a way that made me want to rush for my camera.

"Are you okay?" She asked, then hesitated for a moment before kissing my lips.

"I am now."

"I'm glad to hear that Sam."

"Just one quick question."

"Anything you need."

"You aren't by any chance dating Zayn Malik on the side are you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If people want, I might do some sort of write up about why I believe Lara without Sam becomes a disaster celebrity, either here or at http://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com
> 
> [ writeup has now been written ](https://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com/post/172201821351/okay-so-for-all-those-1-people-wondering-what)


	6. Day 6 - Aristocratic rivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In my defense, the prompt never specifically said it couldn't be set in a fantasy world so.

"This is absurd! You're just going to sell me off like some prize pumpkin?" It took everything in me to control my anger and not take a swing at my aging father... With my axe.

"No Lara it's politics. You are helping avoid civil war." And the more he spoke, the harder it became to resist that urge.

My mom took my hands in her own and spoke in a calming voice. "Lara sweetie, I'm sorry that you end up being the one having to clean up our mess, but this is the way it has to be. Our feud with house Nishimura has lasted for too many years, and if we don't end it ourselves soon, the sun queen is going to end it for us, and she is going to end it with blood."

This was the only way to solve things without bloodshed, it was true, I knew it was true, and as much as it annoyed me, I was going to agree to marrying a Nishimura and combine our houses.

Why did it have to be a Nishimura?

 

I had assumed the most degrading part of this ordeal would be having to swear my undying love to a Nishimura. This rather foolish assumption was of course based on the fact that I had gone my whole life thinking I would be allowed to marry for love and had therefore never bothered to read up on the intricacies of noble courtship.

The proper procedure too wooing another noble started with having to travel alone to their land and presenting yourself to the family. It was decided that I would be the one doing the wooing, since we could not expect a Nishimura to travel to Avalon, for fear that they might muddy their boots.

Neither my bow nor my axe were brought along as fashioned statements, because as anyone except my dear parents could see, this was also an excellent opportunity for an ambush.

 

house Nishimura was the house from which more than half of the sun queens, including both the first and current ones hailed from, and it showed in their land.

As much as it pained me to say, Yamatai was impressive, with all it's sleek interwoven spires that could be seen from miles away, and streets lit by magical black flames.

I had always thought Croft Manor to be a bit excessive, but Yamatai made it look like child's treehouse. No scratch that, the school of mirrors alone made it seem like child's tree house.

 

Entering Nishimura manor, I took petty pleasure in dragging as much mud in with me as I could, before learning that the floors were enchanted to be self-cleaning, because of course they were. Moments later I was beset by a horde of servants, both human and magical, who pretty much dragged me by the braid to meet the assembled house of Nishimura.

The grand hall was covered from top to the bottom in the onyx and silver colors of the Nishimura family, with every flat surface that could support it, sporting their coat of arms. Gathered around a long mahogany table sat about 20 of my in-laws. By the end of the table sat my wife to be, flanked on one side by her father the Nishimura patriarch, and on the other her mother the headmistress of the school of mirrors.

A small stage had been placed for me to stand and present on, the implication that I was comparable to a jester was not lost on me. As such I resolutely stood next to it, and gave Hisao Nishimura a warriors salute, both to emphasize this was not a surrender it was a compromise, and to remind him which house was ultimately responsible for defeating the order of Trinity.

"To what do I owe the honor, Lara Amelia of house Croft?" He asked smugly as if he hadn't known about my visit weeks in advance.

"I have come to seek the hand of your daughter Samantha of house Nishimura's hand in marriage." I had practiced that line to the point where I was going to be repeating it in my sleep for weeks to come, those snakes would not find anything to disagree with in my performance of the courtship rites.

"Then tell me what you might offer to such a union that my house may justly consider it." the Nishimura patriarch spoke straight from the pages of _manners at court_ , good to know we were both working off the same playbook to avoid any incidents.

I took a moment to compose myself, disguised as finding a good place to rest my bow. I had to make sure to get the order absolutely right. The most important things according to tradition should come first and last (meaning heritage and inheritance in either order), with the rest somewhere in between and no mention of personal accomplishments outside of skills.

"I am the daughter of Lord Richard Croft and Lady Amelia once de Mornay now Croft, the twin scourges of the order of Trinity. I am accomplished in all forms of warfare as well as druidic magic." A man halfway down the left side of the table scoffed, and was immediately glared down by the lady Nishimura.

If I wanted to, I could have caused a scene right then and there, maybe used this insult as a spring board to negotiate a dowry of some sort to prove that they really did respect my house, but honestly I just wanted it over and done with. So, I continued as if nothing had happened. "I am next in line as the warden of Avalon, and the sole heir to the house of Croft."

 

As was customary the Nishimura family then proceeded to grill me about every topic between heaven and earth, and as was customary I lied and told them I was virginal and untouched as midwinter snow.

I was then lead out by Samantha, who had so far remained silent, as her family discussed my proposition. "Croft." Her voice was politely neutral. "Nishimura." I replied, matching her tone exactly.

"They're going to be at it for a long at least until midnight, so what do Croft's usually do for fun?" Right how could I forget, while the family was evaluating a suitor, it was bad luck to the point of faux pair for the brides to leave each other's side.

"I don't suppose you have a library somewhere I might busy myself with?" This completely reasonable suggestion, for some reason so grossly offended Samantha, that she looked about ready to call off the entire wedding.

"Seriously, you're in the greatest city in the Queendom and all you want to do is read?" She said that like it was a bad thing, like there was some great adventure just waiting around the corner for me to discover it.

"Well Samantha, what else would you have us do? You are the local after all."

"First of all, it's Sam to everyone except the sun queen and that's only because she's my great grandma, secondly how about literally anything than isn't going to the library?"

"What's wrong with the library?"

"Nothing I just had enough of it 3 times over during my time at the school of mirrors. Speaking of which, why don't I show you our magical arena, so that you can show me some of that druidic magic you were so proud of."

"Fine, but only if you show me some of your mirror sorceries too."

 

I told myself I only agreed as a gesture of goodwill, that I would much rather just wait out the discussion in the company of a good book and a mug of tea.

This was however a lie. Sam had this contagious energy about her, that was almost too easy to get caught up in, and I desperately wanted more.

 

We had barely sat foot inside the arena before Sam stripped down to her undergarments. "What? Wouldn't want to harm the expensive silks." She said, and I just nodded dumbstruck in agreement.

"Though with the color your face is turning, I wonder how you're going to respond to this." She said with a mischievous grin and wiped her hand in front of her face. Suddenly there were three of her, and a moment later five.

"Pretty cool huh?" All five Sam's said in unison and gestured to each other.

I reached out to feel the magic around me. As a druid, my magic was very reliant on my familiarity with the land, and you would be hard pressed to find a land I was less familiar with than the big city.

Still, I found a thread of familiar magic and started pulling. "I guess. Not as cool as this though." I said with a big smile before throwing a ball of fire skywards and making it explode into cinder-butterflies that gently flew all around us.

All except one Sam disappeared. The one remaining giggled slightly and reached out to touch one of the butterfly. Then she stopped herself and turned to me with a challenging look. "So that's how we're going to play this?"

The whole room moved in every direction at once, as Sam began a complex series of dance-like movements. Piece by piece a shape started forming in front of her. First, I thought it was just a construct of reflective glass, then I realized that the room wasn't mirrored or for that matter connected inside the structure. Sam had recreated the room on a small scale and bend it into the shape of a rose.

"For you sweetie." She said and gently waved it towards me. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I reached out to touch it, only for it to pass right through my hand. "Yeah sorry for getting your hopes up, I'm good, but I'm not that good." Sam said and shrugged apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. Instead worry about how you're going to upstage this." I said, the challenge clear in my voice.

I gathered myself, reaching out for every magical thread I could reach and started wrapping them around me. For a moment Sam looked unimpressed as I glowed softly at her... Then the floor opened beneath me.

Vines and rocks sprouted from the ground and began to envelop me. Becoming part of me as I grew in size to the point where I couldn't stand upright without hitting the roof. Over my body of stone and tree, a coat of mold and flowers quickly grew.

Having officially thrown subtlety to the wind, and being not quite done flabbergasting Sam. I reached one of my hands down in front of her, and let a rose spring from my palm with petals of 2 different colors: half of them in Nishimura silver, half in Croft umber. "This one you can actually pick up."

After she did, with the most beautiful expression I had ever seen on anyone's face, I returned to my human form and the enchantments on the arena repaired the damage my transformation had caused.

 

Ever so carefully Sam laid down the rose on top of her bodice.

"For the record, I can do that too." She said, and with a quick wave of her hand, she had taken the shape of an earth elemental of the same shape and size as I had just been.

Or had she really? "Well can your magic do _this_!" I said, and without giving her time to react, leapt at the spot she had just been standing.

There was a sound like glass shattering as her illusion was dispelled. Half a moment later I collided with Sam, and we fell giggling in a pile on the floor.

 

"You know Sam, you're a pretty decent woman all things considered." I said as I was lying on top of her, our faces a hand's width apart.

"Decent enough to get a kiss?" She asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

"Absolutely."


	7. Day 7 - Free Day (Black Canary Sam X Green Arrow Lara)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I made a moodboard for this fic because I felt like it
> 
>  

"Well ladies and gentlepeople, it would seem you have well and truly caught me. Oh whatever shall I do?" Sam said dramatically and put the back of her hand to mimic swooning.

"What are you playing at Canary?" The lead henchman said with a glare.

"No nothing at all, you have accounted for every possibility, and all there is left for me to do is accept my inevitable demise." Sam was now full on leaning backwards over crate while she sighed deeply.

When the henchmen loosened the grips on their weapons and cautiously moved forward, she shot back up. "That is, everything except for this!" She said and let out and ear-piercing cry.

**SCREEEEEEE**

Glass shattered, wood broke, metal bend, and the goons dropped their weapons and fell to the ground clutching their ears.

Seizing the moment, Sam rushed for the leader, vaulting over them and slamming their head into the ground.

From the vault she moved into a high kick against one goon, which in turn lead to a throat punch against a second, before finally crotch kick back at goon number 1.

Sensing that the rest of the goons were starting to regain their footing, Sam grabbed her camera off the leader and bolted through a window.

They all rushed after her, but unlike Sam they didn't have a bike sitting ready for them, and as they scrambled for their cars on the opposite site of the building. Sam sped off into the night.

 

"Hey baby, how was your night?" Sam said after she'd parked her bike in the garage beneath Croft manor.

"Nothing major, had a tussle with some home invaders in uptown, just a couple of angry slum kids, so I went easy on them, and pretended not to notice they'd stuffed 2 Ipads in their bags before running of. Oh and some of Atlas's boys were acting up around his old stomping grounds so there's a chance he's back in town, though for the time being I just chalked it up to them getting angry drunk with it being Friday and all. How about you?" Lara's voice came from further inside the complex.

As she walked, Sam first threw off her jacket, then slipped out of her pants with practiced ease. Leather pants were as stylish as they were protective, but once you had worn them for 8 hours straight and spent about half of that time on a heavily tuned motorcycle, they turned absolutely rancid to wear.

"I need to go over the footage in closer detail, but I might have found us a lead on Trinity." Sam said upon entering the armory/infirmary (space was limited).

Lara was sitting pantsless on the table in the middle of the room and going over something on her tablet. "I see this is a no pant's zone, and I'm absolutely okay with it." Sam added after giving her girlfriend an approving look.

"Huh?" Lara looked down at Sam, then herself, and the penny dropped. "Oh. Yeah one of Atlas goons nicked me with his knife, it's probably nothing but I figured I'd better check it over just to be sure. Then I couldn't remember who the architects that build the Hagia Sophia were, and well... I never got further than this."

Sam chuckled at her poor nerdy girlfriend, sat down between her legs and opened the medkit. "Let me do that for you so you can finish reading, you can thank me later."

Lara looked up from her tablet to press a quick kiss against Sam's lips, then hissed as she rubbed alcohol on the wound. "Do you have anything in particular in mind for that thank, or will a note suffice?" Lara said with a remarkably sultry tone considering she was in the middle of getting her wound dressed.

Sam chalked it up to a combination of how many times they'd had to stich each other up from worse, and the post-fight adrenaline still running through both their bodies. "Well, since we already got rid of our pants." As she spoke she aggressively wiggled her eyebrows at Lara who couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Yeah, since we already got rid of our pants."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's it for s.s. endurance week, gonna be nice to be able to finally be able to go back to sleep at a reasonable hour, not to mention look at some of the longer things other people have
> 
> If you hadn't guessed by now, you can also find me on tumblr (https://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com/) in case you wanna yell about how much the new movie needed Sam or something <3


	8. Road bumps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My plan was to write smut, but it turned into Sam and Lara discussing their feelings and experiences with compulsory heterosexuality while lying naked on top of each other in a bed ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should probably up the rating for this entire collection, but in case I don't:   
> head's up this fic contains overt depictions of nude funtimes between 2 consenting adults

"So, uhm, we're really doing this huh?" Sam said, sitting on her knees in her birthday suit on one end of a bed that was suddenly feeling very small.

"It would seem we are." Lara, who was sitting equally naked on the other end of the bed said. Then after going over Sam's words in her head a second time, she hurriedly added: "I mean, unless you don't want to?"

Sam reached out to rub Lara's shoulder like she had done a thousand times before, then stopped just an inch from the her skin and pulled back, feeling much less touchy in that moment than she usually did. "I want to Lara, I really do, It's just."

After a moments hesitation Lara reached out and took Sam's hand. "I know Sam, I feel the same, we'll take it slow okay."

 

The thing about going your whole life thinking you're straight, is that you build up a lot of walls to protect yourself from feelings you don't allow yourself to have.

You tell yourself your crush is platonic, and that she's your "sister from another mister". Then you keep telling yourself that until it almost sounds true.

And for the longest time, that's the extend of your relationship, until a legendary island smashes diagonally through your life to deliver you a painful reminder of your own mortality. Then being bisexual seems like the least of your worries, and the fact that you're in love with your bestie is the greatest thing to ever happen.

For a while everything seems right in the world, as you talk things through with your therapist and take things slow with BGFF (best girlfriend forever). Then your relationship gets to a point where you want to get more handsy with each other, and all the walls come back up.

Before you know, you have to stop a heated make-out session cause it felt like you were putting your hand up under your sister's shirt.

 

Truth be told Sam and Lara's worries weren't exactly the same.

Sam had always been the one to come up with hijinks as Lara happily following along, so more than anything she worried that to Lara this was just another of her crazy plans.

Lara, who still had Yamatai fresh in her mind (not that Sam didn't), had nightmares about Sam only indulging her advances out of sense of obligation from what had happened on the Island.

At the end of the day, it all came back to a simple thought: "What if she doesn't like me like that." and that was where things got infuriating. Sam and Lara had been those friends who could read each other's mind pretty much from day 1, they _knew_ their feelings were reciprocated, they had reassured each other a hundred times, but no matter what they did, the insecurities came roaring back.

 

Sam was the first to move, she was getting cold, and didn't have the natural affinity for sitting still in biting cold that came with being British. She surged forward with a hand lifted to approximately the level of Lara's chest and said: "I'm just gonna."

She didn't actually finish her movement until Lara smiled and nodded her consent. As awkward sex went, this took the cake by a country mile for Sam.

Lara gasped softly as Sam's hand touched her breast, it was more from cold than from pleasure, but it gave her the courage to continue.

They smiled at each other and giggled. Then Sam started massaging her right boob, and after a second's hesitation let her other boob join the fun.

Lara and Sam moved forward in almost perfect synchrony and softly kissed.

When that quickly turned out not to be enough they opened their mouths to each other.

Sam leant forward, and Lara leant backwards until they were lying on top of each other. Sam's hands were awkwardly squeezed in between their chests, not that she had any intention of moving them, while Lara's arms were wrapped protectively around her.

 

Eventually Sam had to withdraw her hands for fear that she was losing circulation. She did it with a grin though.

"I get it now." She said smiling ear to ear as she looked down on the prettiest girl the world had ever known (in her completely unbiased opinion).

Lara wracked her brain for a second to interpret what Sam meant, then remembered she could just ask. "Get what?"

Sam smile somehow grew even wider, as she leant up slightly to allow her hands better access to Lara's chest. "The boobs thing, why guys are so obsessed with them. They're so soft and squishy, and probably really good pillows."

 

In lieu of a response Lara began full on laughing, the way neither of them had since before Yamatai. "I'm sorry Sam." She gasped out between fits of half choking laughter. "You just said it with such reverence."

Moments later Sam burst out laughing too, making each other happy beyond words had always been one of their specialties. "Yeah well I'm over here having a crisis of faith over all the times I didn't take you up on that offer to grab your boobs."

Without thinking about what that would do to Sam lazing about on her chest, Lara sat straight up in the bed. "When did I ever ask you to touch my breasts?" She said, confusion and a hint of irritation written on her face.

Sam put a hand on her thigh, then realizing the implication it might carry, removed it and looked for a not-sexy but still comforting place to put it. "Literally every time you got drunk sweetie, it was kinda uncanny."

Lara wracked her brain until she found a memory of sitting in the middle of a student bar, pushing her boobs together and yelling "Sam! Saaam! SAM! come touch my boobs!" over the music.

She collapsed backwards giggling again, with Sam wasting no time to crawl back on top of her. "God we really were obvious weren't we."

"mhm" Sam hummed in agreement and kissed her nose. "But not anymore." She said with a smile, Lara smiled right back.

 

They lay like that for a while, just basking in each other's presence, and slowly growing restless.

"So..." Lara was the first to speak.

"Should we get on with that whole _sex_ thing?"

"Yes let's."

"how do you figure we best start this?"

"Hmm." Lara said with a smirk as her hand travelled along the inside of Sam's thigh. "How about this."

Sam groaned slightly as Lara's finger pushed inside of her. "Oh yeah that's gonna work just fine."

 

* * *

 

 

"So that was..." Lara said, lying bathed in both her own and Sam's sweat. She wanted to cuddle but couldn't even manage the energy to turn her face towards Sam.

"Awkward? but like, in a good way?" Sam said thoughtfully. She was every bit as exhausted as Lara, which in itself was weird. It wasn't like they'd had a wild, high energy, sex marathon, quite the opposite, they had spent all their energy on being tense there was nothing left for the act itself.

"Not exactly the word I was thinking off, but yeah: _good awkward_. We should do it again sometime soon." Sam snorted, her girlfriend could be such a dork sometimes, she would have.

"Good night Lara." She whispered.

"Good night Sam, my love." Lara whispered back and blushed to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like you could make a decent drinking game out of reading all of my smut (and "smut") fics and taking a shot every time i mention a character laughing or giggling
> 
> Also, lowkey tempted to try writing smut for these 2 again, but you know actually including the porn section this time, what are people's thoughts on s.s. endurance + bdsm?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr @Offbrand_Valk


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